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Frequently Asked Questions

Getting Started

What can I build using Avaya CPaaS?

Avaya CPaaS offers developers an easy-to-use platform with a comprehensive set of telecommunications functions, which can be seamlessly incorporated into any type of application. Avaya CPaaS gives developers and innovators the freedom to build any voice- and/or SMS-enabled applications they can think of!

Yes. Our REST API can initiate calls, buy phone numbers, send SMS messages, get detailed information about account activity, create conference calls, and much more. Experience with REST is useful when developing with Avaya CPaaS, but it is not required. We do our best to provide information needed for working with our REST API in our documentation.

Upon signing up for Avaya CPaaS, you will be awarded a complimentary $2.00 credit. This will help you to get started familiarizing yourself with the platform and building/testing your initial application. The free credits can be applied to all of Avaya CPaaS’s features except international calling.

A trial account has the following restrictions:

Maximum of 1 outbound call or SMS per second

Limit of 1 phone number

Limited international calling destinations

How do I upgrade to a production account?

Upon signing up for Avaya CPaaS, you are provided with a trial account and free credit, so you can purchase a phone number and begin to use the service. To remove your trial restrictions, log into Avaya CPaaS and click the Request Production Access button on your dashboard. Once you have been approved, you will have a full unrestricted production account.

How do I get started using Avaya CPaaS?

Start by signing up for a free account at cloud.zang.io, then consider taking a look at the following materials:

You can build applications for customer notifications, authentication, polling and surveying, and much more. Check out the examples in our helper libraries to kickstart your next app: https://github.com/zang-cloud.

What is the character limit for MMS messages and SMS text messages?

The text portion of MMS/SMS messages is limited to 160 characters.

Can I SMS or MMS-enable a ported number?

With MMS, you have the ability to share audio, images, and video with MMS-capable numbers in the U.S. and Canada. We support the following formats:

Audio: amr, mp3, wav

Images: jpg, gif, png

Video: mp4, avi, flv

The media size limit is 5MB. We do not support sending more than one media file in the message body at this time. MMS is currently only supported in the U.S. and Canada.

A standard SMS is limited to 160 characters, yet most mobile devices support the ability to display text messages that are longer than this limit. From a user’s perspective, they’ll see a text greater than 160 characters as a seamless message. In order for this to happen a carrier must support the automatic splitting and concatenation (or stitching together) of text messages.

We support SMS concatenation, which means you don’t have to worry about the length of your text messages. We split up longer text messages (both inbound and outbound) in the background, but your customer will always receive it as one simple SMS.

What is SMS concatenation and does Avaya CPaaS support it?

Yes, most of our U.S. and Canadian toll-free numbers are SMS/MMS enabled by default. If you want to SMS/MMS enable your existing toll-free number, we support the ability to do that without completely porting over the number (the voice channel can remain with the existing voice provider).

Yes. You can lease existing, pre-approved shared short codes through Avaya CPaaS. These shared short codes are provisioned instantly and enable you to bypass the lengthy process of obtaining a dedicated short code.

Although, we’ll also help you through the process of obtaining and deploying dedicated short codes. These are short codes just for your business.

Yes. We offer custom SMS/MMS pricing plans for high-volume users, so please contact us to get more information.

What’s the difference between short codes and long codes?

By default, there is a 1 SMS/MMS per second limit on messages. If you need to send SMS/MMS messages at a higher rate, please contact us to get more information.

Do you offer volume pricing for messaging services?

A long code is simply a unique, 10-digit phone number. A short code is a 5- or 6-digit number.

Long codes are suited for P2P (Peer-to-Peer) apps that encourage interaction between individuals. In many cases, local regulations (including in the U.S.) require that all P2P communication is established with a long code.

A short code is required for A2P (Application-to-Peer) apps. These types of apps enable a business to send bulk messages to individuals and in many cases is legally required to send mass messages to customers.

Voice

How do I make a call with Avaya CPaaS?

After you’ve purchased an Avaya CPaaS number or ported your existing number, check out our API Explorer for a simple tutorial on making your first call.

G.711 is currently the supported voice compression supported on Avaya CPaaS.

Do you have a limit on the number of calls I can place per second?

On outbound calls, the default limit for making calls is 1 per second; there is no such limitation on inbound calls.

If you’d like to modify your default limitation, please contact us to get the process started.

How can I see a list of all available phone numbers to purchase?

If you want to add a new Avaya CPaaS number, you need to know what's available. Our REST API provides a way to request a list of available numbers along with all of their resource properties so you know the numbers you have to choose from.

Please note that individual AvailablePhoneNumber resources cannot be requested. Requests only return a list of available resources based on the filtering parameters sent with the request.

In addition, after you’ve signed up for Avaya CPaaS at cloud.zang.io, you can navigate to Numbers, then Buy a Phone Number to search through a list of all available local and toll-free numbers.

Does Avaya CPaaS enable call recording?

Yes. The Record element is used to record audio during a call. It can occur anywhere within an InboundXML document, but will only begin recording once it has been reached. This means it would have to be the first element after for the entire call to be recorded. When the recording is complete, a URL of the recorded audio is created and submitted as a GET or POST to the action URL.

Similar to the Gather element, a timeout value sets how much silence to allow before the recording ends, maxLength sets how long the recording may be, and the finishOnKey is used to set which keys will end the recording. By default, the action and method specify that should make a POST to the URL of the current InboundXML document.

Yes. Avaya CPaaS supports the native ability to transcribe calls/call recordings. Depending on the length and complexity of the call, the process time can vary from a matter of seconds to minutes. The recording is then made available at a URL specified by you.

A call start is defined by the connection and not by the dial. If the call does not connect, no charge is incurred.

What type of formatting is acceptable for entering numbers?

The To, From, and ForwardedFrom parameters are automatically formatted on our end. White space will be trimmed and invalid values like letters or symbols will be parsed out. This allows you to use any formatting you wish. For example:

Avaya CPaaS offers two types of numbers that are purchasable via the Numbers menu of your account: local and toll-free. Click through Buy a Phone Number to see a complete list of numbers available. In this menu you can switch between local and toll-free, also make sure to pay attention to the icons beside the number—they denote whether a number is capable of inbound voice support, inbound SMS, and/or inbound MMS.

If you have a specific need for particular prefixes or range of prefix, please contact us.

Do you provide toll-free numbers?

Yes. We support toll-free numbers in 40+ countries, starting as low as $2/month. For a full list of supported countries and rates, please contact us.

Does Avaya CPaaS support voice conferencing?

Yes. Like the Number element, the element is only nested within the Dial element. Instead of dialing a number, the element allows the ongoing call to connect to a conference room.

By default, all callers will hear hold music until two callers are in the room. To change this behavior, startConferenceOnEnter may be set to true or false. The waitUrl attribute may be used to set a custom MP3. For greater customization, the URL of an InboundXML document can be used while callers are waiting as well. If an InboundXML document is used, the and elements are not allowed. When callers enter or exit the room, a beep is heard if the beep attribute is set to the default value of true. A participant can be initially muted by setting the muted attribute to true.

The conference room can be limited to a certain number of participants by setting the maxParticipants attribute. The endConferenceOnExit attribute is used to end a conference when an specific user (or any one of many users) exits.

Numbers

Can I get a local Avaya CPaaS number in my area code?

Avaya CPaaS provides phone numbers in nearly every area code in the U.S. and Canada, although there are a handful of regions where we don’t have numbers available. You can view pricing and country availability here.

Can I pick any phone number I want?

As long as it hasn’t already been taken, yes! Navigate through all available local and toll-free numbers by clicking into the Numbers menu (found along the top navbar).

If you have a specific need for particular prefixes or a range of prefixes, please contact us. Also, please check our pricing/rates to see where we offer numbers.

Can I port an existing phone phone number to my Avaya CPaaS account?

Yes, you can port existing numbers across carriers, within the country in which they were initially established. Porting over an existing number requires you to fill out a Letter of Authorization or RODAA and provide a copy of the most recent bill associated with the number(s) being ported over. Please contact us.

How much does it cost to port a number?

Porting a phone number in the U.S. and Canada starts at as little as $1.00 USD per number, but we offer volume discounts. Please contact us.

How long does it take a port a number?

The time it takes to port a number varies across carriers and countries. Typically, the number porting process can take as little as 24-48 hours or as long as 30 days. We’ll work with you and your carriers to ensure that this process is as short as possible.

How do I buy a number through Avaya CPaaS?

Under a trial account, you are limited to one number. After you have upgraded to a production account that restriction is lifted and you can purchase however many you want as long as you have the funds to support your number purchases.

How many numbers can I purchase?

Yes. Once you have logged in, simply navigate to Numbers in the navbar, then click on the Manage Numbers dropdown. Click on the number that you’d like to delete and hit Release Number. The number is then released and any future costs (past the current month’s charges) associated to your ownership of the number are also released.

Avaya CPaaS offers two types of numbers that are purchasable via the Numbers menu of your account: local and toll-free. Click Buy a Phone Number to see a complete list of numbers available. In this menu you can switch between local and toll-free, also make sure to pay attention to the icons beside the number—they denote whether a number is capable of inbound voice support, inbound SMS, and/or inbound MMS.

If you have a specific need for particular prefixes or range of prefix, please contact us.

How do I set up my number(s)?

Phone numbers are instantly provisioned when you buy them. And you always get the choice of SMS/MMS-enabled numbers or just voice. After you have purchased a number, you can view and manage them via the Avaya CPaaS portal.

Pricing/Billing

How am I charged while using Avaya CPaaS?

By default, Avaya CPaaS will automatically deduct credit from your account balance based on the rate(s) associated with the corresponding service(s) that you use, whether it be for per minute phone calls, per message, or monthly rates associated with your purchased phone numbers, etc.

How do I purchase Avaya CPaaS credit?

Once you’ve been granted production access on your Avaya Cloud account, you’ll have the ability to configure a credit card to your account and buy credit. Online credit purchases start at as little as $10. With a credit card set up, you can also set up auto-replenish, which allows you to configure a threshold to prevent your account from reaching $0.00.

What other billing/payment options do you support?

Option 1) An Avaya CPaaS Sales Specialist can provide you a quote for a block of CPaaS credit (minimum $1,000 purchase required). Please contact us to get your purchase order started. Blocks of CPaaS credit are still prepaid but additional payment options include ACH wire transfer. Once payment is received, our team will add the credit to your Avaya Cloud account.

Option 2) We also support post-pay billing. If you anticipate consuming at least $1,000/month in CPaaS usage, we support switching your Avaya Cloud account to post-pay. Your organization will receive an invoice every month based on the usage of the prior month. Post pay Avaya Cloud accounts are configured by our Support team so that they can run into a negative balance, meaning that you don’t need to prepay for credit in order for the account to process API transactions.

Who do I contact if I am having trouble with the mobile number verification step?

Upon signing up for an Avaya Cloud account and accessing the Avaya CPaaS dashboard, you can request complimentary credit from our Sales team, please contact us to get started. This will help you to get started familiarizing yourself with the platform and building/testing your initial application. The free credits can be applied to all Avaya CPaaS features except international calling.

A trial account includes the following restrictions:

Maximum of 1 outbound call or SMS per second

Limit of 1 phone number

Limited international calling destinations

How can I upgrade from a trial account?

Simply log into Avaya CPaaS and click the Request Production Access button on your dashboard. You will be prompted to fill out some information. You might be connected with an Avaya CPaaS Sales Specialist but once you have been approved, you will have a full unrestricted production account.

What happens if my Avaya CPaaS account balance reaches zero?

If your balance reaches $0.00 you will no longer be able to use any Avaya CPaaS features or the phone numbers that you have purchased. However, you will NOT immediately lose any phone numbers you've purchased. You'll want to head to your billing page and add funds to your account to reactivate your numbers and your Avaya CPaaS service.

In the case that you have not replenished your Avaya Cloud account after 60 days, we may close your account and return your phone numbers to our database of available numbers. It is important to proactively look after your account’s balance to avoid any disruption to your applications.

Do you support parent/child accounts?

Not at this time, but it's on our roadmap.

What if I want to cancel my account?

If you want to cancel your account, simply stop funding it. Once your balance reaches zero we’ll automatically close your account after 60 days. If at any time you want to have your account closed, please contact us.

Do you round minutes for the purpose of billing?

Yes. For phone calls, your account is billed on a per minute basis and minutes are rounded to the nearest whole number.